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Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Ukraine and Russia
Ukraine Condemns Russian Move To Ease Citizenship For Those In Separatist-Held Areas
Updated
By RFE/RL
Russian President Vladimir Putin (file photo)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree simplifying the
procedure for people living in parts of eastern Ukraine held by
Russia-backed separatists to obtain Russian citizenship, drawing a swift
and angry response from Kyiv and criticism from the West. Shortly after Putin's decree was published on the Kremlin website
on April 24, Ukraine's foreign minister called it "aggression and
interference" in Kyiv's affairs and a Western diplomat told RFE/RL it
was a "highly provocative step" that would undermine the situation in
the war-ravaged region known as the Donbas. President Petro Poroshenko said that, with this decree, "Russia is torpedoing the peace process in the Donbas."
The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv posted on Twitter that the decree was "absurd
and destabilizing" and reaffirmed "our strong support for Ukraine's
sovereignty and territorial integrity."
Ukraine's mission to the United Nations posted on Facebook that
Kyiv had "asked that the UN Security Council call a session to discuss
Russia's brazen decision to issue Russian passports in the temporarily
occupied Ukrainian territory." Putin's order and its timing seemed designed to put pressure on Kyiv
just three days after Ukraine elected a new president, opening the door
to potential changes in a relationship severely damaged for the past
five years by Russia's seizure of Crimea and support for the forces who
hold parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine's President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a statement
condemning Russia as an "occupying state" and an "aggressor country that
is waging war against Ukraine." He called for "increased diplomatic and
sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation." The decree says its goal is "to protect human and civil rights" and
that the move was "based on universal principles and norms of the
international law." Putin aide Vladislav Surkov called it "extremely important" and said
that Russia was carrying out its "duty to Russian-speaking and
Russian-thinking people who have found themselves in a very grave
situation" due to what he called "the repressive actions of the Kyiv
regime." Denis Pushilin, the self-proclaimed head of the Moscow-backed
separatist formation in Donetsk, called Putin's decree "a milestone in
the history of our young states." "We have been waiting for this step for a long time and are immensely
glad that this day has come," he was quoted as saying by the press
agency of the de facto authorities in Donetsk. Speaking hours after the decree was published, Putin said that Moscow
has "no desire to create problems for the new Ukrainian authorities"
and called it "a purely humanitarian matter," contending that people in
the Donetsk and Luhansk regions "are deprived of all possible civil
rights."
Passports of the Russian Federation on a table as Crimean residents receive them in Simferopol on April 15, 2014.
But Kyiv rejects such claims, blaming Russia for the problems faced by residents of the war-ravaged regions. Oleksandr Turchynov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security
Council, issued a statement saying that "Putin is creating legal
conditions for an official application of armed forces against Ukraine."
"This is related to Russian legislation allowing the use of armed forces
for protecting Russian citizens outside of Russia," he added. Turchnyov called for "increasing sanctions pressure on the aggressor state." Poroshenko's statement made the same argument, saying Putin's decree
"is actually about the Kremlin's preparations for the next step of
aggression against our state – the annexation of the Ukrainian Donbas or
the creation of a Russian enclave in Ukraine."
He said Ukraine had initiated a discussion of the matter in the United
Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and
the European Union. Shortly after the decree was published, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin tweeted that
"Russia's decision to issue passports in the occupied Ukrainian
territories is the continuation of aggression and interference in our
internal affairs," adding: "This is a new 'passport' stage of the
occupation of the Donbas."
Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the
subject, a Western diplomat involved in negotiations related to the
conflict in eastern Ukraine told RFE/RL that Putin's decree is "a highly
provocative step that undermines efforts to deescalate the situation"
in the Donbas. According to the decree, permanent residents of "certain districts of
Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions" -- wording apparently referring
to territory held by the Russia-backed separatists, which includes the
two provincial capitals -- "have the right to apply for citizenship of
the Russian Federation [and obtain it] in a simplified way."
The decree states that decisions on citizenship for people from the
areas in question must be made by Russian authorities within three
months after their applications are filed and all necessary documents
are collected, and that citizenship must be granted immediately after
the decision to do so is made. Only holders of identification documents issued by the separatist
authorities will be eligible for the expedited citizenship. The de facto
separatist formations have said about 300,000 such identification cards
have been issued. Putin's order came after amendments to the Russian law on citizenship
allowing the president to grant citizenship to foreigners "in a
simplified way" were approved by lawmakers in both houses of the Russian
parliament in December and came into force on March 29.
Russia's moves to grant citizenship to residents of other former Soviet
republics, and especially breakaway regions that are supported by
Moscow, have often been described by critics as a way to increase the
size of Moscow's footprint and gain additional levers of influence in
those countries.
In 2002, during Putin's first term, Moscow began issuing Russian
passports to residents of Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia -- first laying groundwork for the move by adopting a law
allowing Russian citizenship to be granted to people who did not receive
citizenship of any country after the 1991 Soviet collapse.
When Russian troops rolled into Georgia in August 2008, at the start of a
five-day war that strengthened Moscow's grip over South Ossetia and
Abkhazia, the number of Russian passport holders in the two separatist
regions was 85 and 90 percent, respectively.
Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent countries
after the war, leaving large numbers of troops in both regions.
Pro-Kremlin analysts and other defenders of Moscow's actions say that
Russia was protecting its citizens when it launched the military
operation. Meanwhile, Russian media reports have said that almost half
the residents of Moldova's Moscow-backed breakaway region of
Transdniester are Russian passport holders.
Putin's decree came three days after Zelenskiy, a comedian and political
novice who critics doubt will be able to stand up to Putin, defeated
Poroshenko by a massive margin in a presidential runoff. He is to be
inaugurated in early June.
Putin and other Russian officials had repeatedly denounced Poroshenko,
who made a stronger army and resistance to Russian interference major
parts of his policy and his reelection campaign. Poroshenko was elected in May 2014, after Moscow-friendly President
Viktor Yanukovych was pushed from power that February by a protest
movement known as the Maidan after he scrapped plans for closer ties
with the European Union and vowed to boost trade with Russia.
Shortly after Yanukovych stepped down and fled to Russia, Moscow seized
control of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and fomented unrest in the
Donbas, where it has backed separatist forces in a war that has killed
some 13,000 people and continues despite a cease-fire and peace deal
known as the Minsk Accords. Russia denies involvement in the conflict despite evidence Kyiv and
Western governments say is incontrovertible that it has provided
weapons, troops, and other support.
With reporting by RFE/RL correspondent Christopher Miller in Kyiv, Reuters, TASS, and RBK
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